9 AM 2146/04
Leigh Oates Platypus 2004
Gouache & acrylic on canvas 855 x 620mm $650
I have lived in the country all of my life and a platypus sighting was always a great treat for us as kids. The
platypus is a very unusual creature. It lives in small streams and ponds on the east coast of Australia and
Tasmania. They burrow into the side of river banks and ponds and lay their eggs (up to three). After about 10
days of incubation the eggs hatch. The young feed on milk, which is excreted from the mammary glands, by
licking it from their mother's fur. The platypus feeds on the creatures that live on the river or pond bed, shrimps
and other crustaceans, insects, shellfish and worms. It sifts through the mud and slime on the bottom with its
duck like bill. Painting: The painting is a representation of a small stream. The banks of the stream are covered
with grey river rocks, and the white circles around the rocks represent the water flowing down the stream. The
brown background represents the muddy bottom and the edges of the stream where the platypus feeds.